Tag: ‘Landscape’

By fading back and forth between scenes of pre- and post-quake Tokyo, this time-lapse video by YouTube user darwinfish105 shows how the metropolitan nightscape has been affected by Japan's ongoing power shortages and conservation efforts.

Ghostly trees covered in snow and rime ice -- known as "snow monsters" or juhyou (frost-covered trees) in Japanese -- are a celebrated feature of the winter landscape in mountainous areas of northern Japan. Here are a few photos.

1:00 - The boat approaches the tunnel entrance, located on the Kanda River next to Mansei-bashi Bridge near Akihabara. The drainage tunnel -- known as the Ochanomizu Diversion Channel -- runs 1.3 kilometers and rejoins the river upstream near JR Suidobashi station. The tunnel is not designed for boat traffic.

2:10 - Tamori tests the echo inside the tunnel.

2:25 - The painted numbers indicate the distance in meters from the entrance.

2:35 - The tunnel measures about 8 meters from floor to ceiling. The water level easily reaches the ceiling after a heavy rain.

3:00 - The boat approaches a round section of tunnel dug with a shield machine. This portion of the tunnel is 8.8 meters in diameter and 760 meters long.

3:50 - The passengers view the rails of a ceiling-mounted crane system used during construction. The crane was used to erect a water barrier to keep the construction area dry.

4:00 - The boat passes a floodgate tunnel on the left.

5:00 - The boat passes a sign reading "Eidan Ochanomizu Station." This type of sign was placed in the tunnel during construction to indicate the nearby infrastructure. Due to its proximity to the subway station, this part of the tunnel is built with extra reinforcements.

5:30 - The boat passes a similar sign for Ochanomizu-bashi Bridge.

5:55 - The boat passes a similar sign for Century Tower, a 19-floor office building.

6:00 - A smaller tunnel branches off to the right. The tunnel is too small for a boat, and the guide is not sure where it leads.

6:50 - The round section of tunnel opens up into a large chamber. During construction, this was a vertical shaft used to lower the shield machine underground. The rails of a ceiling-mounted crane system are visible overhead. A ladder leads up to a manhole on the street.

7:50 - The exit comes into view. Another tunnel continues past the exit for another 1.6 kilometers.

8:30 - The boat exits the tunnel and continues up the Kanda River.

9:30 - The boat passes a pipe pumping water out of the leaky Suidobashi subway station (Mita line).

Two historical figures -- the legendary warrior-monk Benkei (left) and the warrior Ushiwakamaru, a.k.a. Minamoto no Yoshitsune (right) -- have emerged in a pair of fields in the Aomori prefecture town of Inakadate. For nearly 20 years, the town has prided itself as home to Japan's finest rice crop art, which is created by carefully arranging different colors of rice plants in the field.